Cap Hollier of Groves ended a 2016 hole-in-one drought last Thursday with a most unique ace on the 147-yard, 12th at Babe Zaharias. Adam Noel added another ace not long after on Zaharias’ 15th, then some 48 hours later Kirk Roccaforte of Beaumont holed his tee shot on the 17th at Bayou Din.
What is it they say, when it rains it pours?
Hollier’s ace was by far the most unusual. A single digit handicap, he used a choked-down driver into a wind of over 20 miles per hour. It was his third ace and was witnessed by Tom LeTourneau, Robert Lynch and Harold Wilkinson.
Noel, playing in the same Senior Game as Hollier, used a pitching wedge for his hole in one from 107 yards on the 15th. His fourth ace was witnessed by Dillard Darbonne, Ralph Childress and Don MacNeil.
Roccaforte, meanwhile, celebrated his first ace after sinking a 6-iron tee shot on the 137-yard, 17th at Bayou Din. Witnesses were David Ess and David Carriere.
Price Youngs of Nederland didn’t make a hole in one but he pulled off the rare feat of scoring two eagles in the same round at Zaharias. Youngs, after reaching the par-5 third in shots and making the putt, holed an 8-iron from 135 yards for a deuce on the 400-yard, par-4 18th.
Youngs’ playing companions for what turned out to be a round of 76 were Rodney Bombeck, Dennis Walsh and Lonnie Bourque.
CHIP SHOTS
Jerry Honza and Ed Campbell were beaming over the robust turnout for the third stop on the Texas-Louisiana Junior Tour Saturday at the National Golf Club of Louisiana. On a day when four players from Texas and four from Louisiana won flights, a total of 76 players participated.
Karlei Hemler of Groves turned in the round of the day, a three-under par 69 that bested Brooke Duncan of Sulphur by three shots in the Girls 16-18 group and gave her a third consecutive win. She will go for a sweep in the final tournament this Saturday at Bayou Din.
Other Texas winners included Micah Depew of Kountze (89 in Boys 12-13), Xander Parks of Orangefield (36 in Co-Ed 10-11, nine holes) and Mattie Purgahn of Orange (24 in Co-Ed 7-9, six holes).
Seth Cox of Jennings headed the Louisiana winners, but needed sudden death playoff success against Jacobo Santacoloma of Lake Charles. Both players shot 75.
Other Louisiana winners included Jace Benoit of Sulphur (74 in Boys 14-15), Carly Tietje Wittington of Kinder (85 in Girls 14-15) and Chelsey Shaheen of DeQuincy (114 in Girls 12-13).
Players have until 5 p.m. today to register for Saturday’s fourth and final tourney at Bayou Din. …
Chris Stroud was the only one of the three Lamar exes in the field to make the cut at the Northern Trust Open, but rounds of 73-72 on the weekend dropped the former PN-G star into a tie for 59th.
He collected $14,892, raising his season earnings to $183,977. Stroud, who is No. 132 in Fed Ex points, will be playing for a fourth consecutive week as the PGA Tour moves to Florida for the Honda Classic. No other player with area ties is in the field. …
Port Neches-Groves ex Braden Bailey delivered another solid performance for Baylor in last weekend’s All-American Intercollegiate at the Golf Club of Houston.
Bailey finished 19th overall with rounds of 73-76-70 for a 54-hole total of three-over 219. Double bogeys in round one and two on the par 4, fifth hole kept him from shooting par or better.
Baylor finished fourth behind Arkansas, Houston and South Carolina. …
PN-G’s girls won a third consecutive tournament Friday at Brentwood Country Club, firing a 362 to beat LC-M by 18 strokes in the Vidor Invitational. Hemler paced PN-G with a 76, but saw medalist honors go to Lauren Cox of LC-M. Cox carded a 74.
Other PN-G
scores included an 86 by Brynna Bailey, a 99 by Ryan Weatherford and a 101 by Kensey Dukes. …
PN-G’s boys placed sixth in the Barbers Hill Invitational at Eagle Pointe, finishing behind five 6A schools but beating all the 5As and below. Josh Elmore set the pace for the Indians with a 148 (75-73) that included an eagle on the par-5 17th.
Elmore, who had to overcome a triple bogey, finished T5 overall, seven shots behind medalist Dawson Dailey of Cinco Ranch.
Other scores for PN-G included a 155 (76-79) from Bryant Hardy, a 164 (81-83) from Blake Thibodaux and a 165 (79-86) from Tyler Feemster. Hardy had one of the shots of the tournament, holing a wedge from 100 yards for an eagle on the 11th hole.
PN-G coach Ricky Keyes was pleased with a strong showing he got from Daniel Stephens. Playing as a medalist, Stephens shot 160 on rounds of 82-78. …
The team of Rick Pritchett, Harrell Guidry, Cole Lee and Joe Vanderweg scored a sweep in the Super Saturday Game at Babe Zaharias.
Playing a best two-ball format, they were minus-4 on the front and even on the back. …
There was also a sweep in the Friday two-ball game at The Babe, with the foursome of Benny Sharpe, Guidry, Lee and Charles Leard posting minus-5 on both the front and the back. …
The Thursday Senior Game at The Babe was played in a Select Drive All Points Count format. Placing first with 29 points was the team of Bob Barnes, Larry Stansbury, Ron Overstreet, Harry Green and Ray Gallier. Closest to the pin winners were Barnes (No. 2), LeTourneau (No. 7), Hollier (No. 15 with his ace), Hollier and Bill Jones No. 15. …
The Babe Zaharias DogFight was won with 20 points by the team of Joe Gongora, Leard, Paul Brown and Tommy Lemire. Closest to the pin winners were MacNeil (No. 2), Pritchett (No. 7), Allen Suire (No. 12) and Gary Anderson (No. 15). …
Entries are being taken at the Babe Zaharias Golf Shop for the March 19 Nederland Heritage Festival Flighted Two-Person Scramble. Entry fee is $50 per player, which includes cart and greens fee. Call 722-8286. …
The KAM Golf Academy is planning a Spring Break Junior Clinic from March 14-17 at Bayou Din Golf Club. The clinic is for ages 7-14 and runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. each day. Fee for 8 hours of comprehensive instruction, which will include work on both the practice tee and golf course, is $125. Entry blanks are available at both Bayou Din and Babe Zaharias. Players can also register by calling 549-1757 or 344-0205.
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